Monologue: George Carlin on Football and Baseball - SNL 

Yeah he was also high on cocaine lol

He was supposed to be the permanent host but he turned that down so they came up with the idea of celebrity hosts each week to compensate.

dildonius if he was a permanent host he would just be a cast member. The idea would be doomed from the starts

I watched this show and was hooked for the next few years. Great shows.

When they understood how to stay relevant.

Well, it got beat out by a wolverine joke by a few minutes. But pot jokes sure caught up fast.

Oh no !!! We ought to put him in jail...............................

And he was coked out of his head

And he was on cocaine

Love it

You said it!!

Why?

@@timothy790110 It was the first episode of one of the greatest sketch comedy shows ever

@@freddyrichards878 back then it really was a great show ... and being a teenager watching it live was really great .

@@gardensofthegods Exactly! Now it’s awful

I never realized that (being a hockey fan.)

At the time it was definitely more of a hit on baseball.

⁠@@A-FrameWedge it seemed like more of a hit on football tbh. Carlin was famously a baseball fan-never heard of him liking football. I might be leaning hard on authorial intent here; it’s hard not to

football is a metaphor for war... Carlin clearly understood this

Actually, he had done the routine before, probably several times, however, I agree with you that this version _sounds_ like it wasn't the finished product... But that is because NBC Producers absolutely DEMANDED to know every single word he was gonna say, which jokes (approved by a Full NBC Executive Committee before hand) and how they would be told. He had to strip down the joke a little bit for the NBC Audience, and that's why someone like you or I, who are more familiar with Carlin's work, see this as "Football vs Baseball Lite".

I saw the George Carlin football & baseball in the hall of fame in Cooperstown before I said that guy looks familiar oh that’s George Carlin he kind of looks like bill Murray here I would have loved to see something with both bill Murray & George Carlin in it it would be hilarious

Lucky guy you

Great Dad!

I’ve always felt the the best comedians are very intelligent people

George Carlin was aware before the country was woke.

Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle... Lots of greats working right now.

@@teresewaters645 Chris Rock isn’t the stand up comedian he use to be, but his acting has greatly improved. Dave is still great at stand up but not what he use to be (and Dave is my favorite ever, so this isn’t an insult to him at all). But with the cancel culture being so prevalent now it’s really stifled stand up comedy.

@@teresewaters645 Yes also Eddie Murphy, Bill Burr, John mulaney

Carlin would rip this generation two new ones. Everything happens for a reason and his time was up.

Louis CK! Unfortunately we don't see him around very much after the me too movement, but to me he's just as good as Carlin tbh.

Neiko san yeah

I saw that interview too. It's great. He said he saw himself "grinding" on this show, which I guess is something coke users would do with their jaws as their sinuses regained their feeling or something.

He hosted in 84 too. If coke was the reason then the entire regular cast should of been fired after season 1 lolz.

Coke was ubiquitous behind the scenes on the show, but it started later on, after it achieved some success. Having their first-ever host "boxed" with the substance and refusing to integrate his comedy with the show was probably a good way to annoy Lorne Michaels, who had his hands full enough already that week. I totally get why Carlin was off-limits until Michaels was off the show and Dick Ebersol was the producer. Carlin's career was on the downswing in 1975, but had rebounded in 1984 when he started his run of HBO specials.

Fuck Lorne

must be the cocaine...

George Carlin was low key fine back in his day.

& sounds somewhat like robin williams

Pretty fucked on cocaine

It was cocaine. Just watched a video of him talking about it.

He pulled it off, but you can tell.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6Z1t1pnSlb8.html it’s all here in this interview.

He was coked up between 1969-1992😂😂 , he bought a plane in the 70s and barely flew in it, just sat on the tarmac and did coke at the back of the plane

You could've just said: "this".

@@danielc197

+hakim amalou he was always on coke back then

George Carlin is more than Coke... Even coke would snort some Carlin.

And Chevy Chase was on Pepsi

He's doing regular bits from his most recent album, so nothing to read off cards. But you can see he's struggling with his timing, especially early. I guess he was affected more by being cranked on live TV.

George Carlin is basically an artificial intelligence powered by a hamster wheel, but the hamster is on coke. That’s how you get things like Uncle Dave.

I just saw this interview you’re referring to where he mentions the jaw grinding and his use of cocaine. And George thought that’s the reason why Lorne Michaels never asked him back on the show. He left a bad taste in Lorne’s mouth.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6Z1t1pnSlb8.html George being interviewed on American Archive of Television

I just watched an interview with George Carlin saying that he never EVER got asked back by Lorne Michaels after his first appearance and he doesn’t understand why. George said “ they’ve had anniversary shows 15th anniversary 20th anniversary 25th anniversary “ and they never asked George who is the very first host to make an appearance on any of those shows and he said he couldn’t understand why.

It’s a routine when it’s stand up, a skit or a sketch is for sketch comedy like Chapelle’s Show or the sketches from SNL. They call it a monologue here, but most people call them routines.

Not trying to be a pedantic dick, just figured you might want to know the proper terminology.

@@Thor-Orion Maybe it's a 'bit'?

@@ShortRound42 also completely acceptable.

Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad's "Saturday Night: A Backstage History" only covers the first eight or nine seasons, but it's fantastic and funny. Totally agree with your assessment.

SharonAnne N A year late but I think I heard it from his On Location at Phoenix.

Yes even though he died in 2008 his comedy was timeless and particularly relevant today (2023)